Baseball glove



Jne 7 1927- P. KENNEDY ET-m.

BASEBALL cxgm ,Fuga Ju'ly s'. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS ennedcy,

ATTORNEYS June 7, 1927. P. KENNEDY ET AL BASEBALL GLOVE Filed July 5. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Vm 4. www;

ATTORNEYS Patented June 7, 1927.

UNITED STATES PHILIP KENNEDY AND BERT KENNEDY, OIF GLO'VERSVILLE, YORK.

BASEBALL GLOVE. f

A Application led July 3,v 1925. Serial No. 41,363. j/

Our invention relates to improve-ments in baseball gloves of the class known as fielding gloves, and4 it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements herein described and claimed.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a glove which maybe broadly defined as having all the beneficial features of construction and operation of the baseball glove that is disclosed in Lett-ers Patent of the United States 1,490,174 granted to Philip Kennedy on April 15, 1924,. The glove of the present invention differs from the glove of the aforesaid patent in certain details of construction and the glove of the present inventionl has advantages which will be hereinafter set out and which arise from the novel and distinguishing structural features of the glove that the present invention provides.

An object of the present invent-ion is the' provision of a fielder-s glove having a novel flexible and automaticallyadjustable connection between the back portions of certain adjacent fingers ofthe glove and between the thumb and adjacent finger of the glove, the flexible connection being engaged directly With the fingers and the thumb of the glove adjacent to the outer ends of the latter and being'. adapted to function as a result of the impact of a ball striking the palm of the glove near thel base of the thumb of the glove to draw the ends oi the fingers and the end of the thumb toward one another, thus producing a, relatively deep pocket in the palm of the glove at the base of the thumb for the reception of the the glove to ball and staying the respective fingers of one another and to the thumb of the glove so that the impact of a ball striking against the front of any one of the fingers of the glove will be resisted by the combined action of all the fingers of the glove and the thumb as Well, whereby not only will the nge'rs of the hand of a wearer of the glove be supported against being bent backward and broken by the ball but the impact of the ball against the glove will tend to close the glove ,automatically upon the ball sothatthe ball will be held firmly in the glove.

A further .object of the invention is the provision of a glove in which the usual seam etween the thumb stall and the body of the glove at the portion of the base of the .thumb Whideis we F0 ,the @fst ingr? @t the glove is eliminated, ,whereby the glove 1s relatively strong at the place where the greatest stress will take place in service andA ripping of the seam at the base of the thumb 'as a result of impact of the ball thereagainst is precluded.

Other objects and advantages of the inventionwill be apparent from the 'following descr1pt1on, cons1deredv in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which F1gure 1 is a back view of the improved glove,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front view of the thumb, forefinger and adjacent portion of the glove, .Y Figure 3 is a plan view of a blank which includes the front or palm portion of the cove-r of the glove together with integral other adjacent vportions of the covcr'ot the glove,

ligure 4is a plan of the blank which malnly forms the cover of the thumb of the glove.

The improved glove has a body generally.

indicated at l which is provided with the finger stall portions 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively and the thumb stall portion 6.

The thumb stall 6 i-s formed with a pair ot 'spaced eyelets 7 in the back portion of the thumb stall adjacent to the outer end of the thumb stall and near the row of stitching 8 which joins the inner edges of' the front and back sections of the cover of the thumb stall to'each other. The respective eyelets 7 are spaced longitudinally of the ,thumb stall,

Vone of said eyelets being nearer to the cX- tremity of the thumb stall than the other eyelet. The upper` eyelet 7 and pairs of aligned eyelets 9 9, 10-1'), and 11-11 which are formed in the back portions of the finger stalls 5, 4 and 3 respectively adjacent to the outer ends of. such finger stalls, all lie substantially along the arc of a circle struck by a radius of relatively great length. 'The lower eyelet 7 and pairs of aligned eyelets 12-,12 and 13-13 which are formed in the back portion of the finger stalls ,5 and 4 respectively, likewise'lie in the arc of a circle struck' b a radius of slightly less length than the filet mentioned radius about the same center. The lace 14 is threaded through the eyelets 11--11, 10-10,

9 9, and the upperA eyelet`7 in turn, and then downwardly within the cover of the thumb. stall 6 and out of the lower eyelet 7 and finally ythrough the aligned eyeletsY lio of thev back of the cover of the fourth linturn, the ends of the lace 14 being knotted as indicated at 15 and 16 respectively to produce stops at the ends of the lace fory preventing accidental withdrawal of the end portions of the lace through the eyelets 11- 11 and 13-13 respectively. It is to be noted particularly that 'the eyelets are formed inA the back portions of the covers of'. the finger stalls and the thumb stall so that no projecting parts are provided on the back of the linger stalls and the thumb stall. The lace 14 is of sufficient length to permit the lingers and the thumb of the-glove to be opened out4 or spread to lie substantially in the same plane, as when the hand of the wearer of the glove is open. However, the impact of a blow resulting from the ball striking the palm of the glove will tend to cause the ends of the fingers and the thumb to move forwardly and inwardly as a unit since motion will be transmitted betweenthe adjacent fingers 5, 4 and 3 and between the linger 5 and the thumb 6 by the flexible lace 14. A relatively deep pocket thus will be formed by the closin of the glove when the ball strikes the pa m of the glove and the ball is not likely to escape from this pocket. Moreover, the lace stays the fingers 5, 4 and 3 to one another and to the thumb vso that these lingers and thumb portion of the love give combined support to the fingers o `the hand of a vwearer and tend to prevent injury to the hand of the wearer as well as to assure close fitting of the fingers of theglove over the ball in the pocket at the front of the glove. Since the eyelets through which the lace passes are in the back portions of the lingers and thumb of the glove, the fingers 5, 4 and 3 will be firmly stayed to each other and to the thumb 6. and the transmission of motioi'. between adjacent fingers which arev mitting desirable flexibility of the third and fourth fngersof the glove.

The cover of the glove includes a section shown in Figure 3 which comprises the palm oijtion 17, the front portions 18, 19, 20 anl 21 of the covers of the finger Vstalls 5, 4, 3 and 2, Arepectively, together with a portion 22 which includes the outer portion ger 2 and extends downwardly at the back of the glove to provide a lateral marginal portion of the back of the cover of the glove,

as i shown in Figure 1. The construction ing site ateralmarginal portion 'of the cover of the back of the glove. An opening 24 is formed in the aforesaid section of the cover `of the glove at the juncture of the palm portion 17 with thelateral marginal portion 23 of the back of the glove. The inner lateral edge of the opening 24 is convexly curved, thus producing aylap 25 on the palm portion of the cover of' the glove. The opening 24 also is formed at the end thereof proximate to the front portion 18 `of the first finger of the glove to produce a tongue 26 on the palm portion of the cover The cover of the thumb of the glove is formed mainly in one piece as shown in Fi ure 4 and includes a front portion 27 an a back portion 28. The lower edge of the front portion of the thumb piece is attached by stitching to the edge ofthe flap 25 on the palm portion of the glove as indicated at 29 and to the edge of the'palm portion of theglove at the lower end of the opening 24 as indicated at 30. The lateral edge portion. of the front of the thumb piece is secured by stitching to one lof the glove extending into the openin'g 24. l

side edge of the tongue 26, as at 31. The l side edge portion of the bac-k 28 of the thumb piece is secured by stitching for part ofits length to the other side edge portion ico to in the foregoing as connecting various.

edge portions of the thumb piece to adjacent edge portions of the cover of the glove may y be provided in one continuous row. When the' thumb piece 27-28 is attachedl to the cover of the body. of `the glove along the edge of the opening 24 in the manner just described, the tongue 26 will be secured to adjacent edge portions of the thumb piece 1n position to extend as a part of the cover of the glove above the base of the thumb at the juncture of the thumb with the body of the glove and at the placeA at the front of the glove at which the greatest stresses are im osed because of the impact of the ball striking the glove. In other words, the front portion of the cover of the body of the glove is continuous with the cover of the thumb of the glove at the inner .side of the thumb of the glove for part of the length of the thumb and the line of stitching which connects the thumb piece tol the body of the glove at the inner side of the thumb' is located on the cover of the thumb of the glove outwardly beyond the place of contact of a ball with the palm portion of the glove at the base of the thumb of the glove. The provision of the flap 25 also serves to locate the stitching between the lower edge of the front side of the cover of the thumb and the adjacent portion of the cover of the body of the glove above the place on the palm of the glove at the base of the thumb which is likely to be struck by a ball when the glove is in use. The impact of a ball against the side portion of'the glove at the base of the thumb therefore is not likely to cause breaking of' the threads of the seam between the front piece and the cover of the body of the glove and moreover the portion of the cover of the glove between the thumb and the body of the glove at the inner side of the base of the thumb has greater pliability when it is made of a ven material, suc as leather than would1 be possible were this portionof the cover of the glove formed in pieces connected by stitching as is usual and not in a single piece as is done in forming a glove according to thel present invention.

The thumb stall 6 and the first finger 5 of course may be additionally connected by the fieXible web or connecting strip 34. This strip is located approximately midway between the juncture of the base of the thumb with the body of the glove and the portions of the lace 14 which extend between the outer end portions of the thumb and first finger of the glove.

It also will be observed that the front portion of the cover of the glove is secured at the edge of its wrist portion to the lining of the glove by lacing, thus permitting re-packing of the glove or adjustment ofthe packing of the glove as desired to produce a de. sirable pocket in the palm of the glove under the impact of a ball and alsc precluding objectionable stiffness at the edge of the wrist portion ofthe glovef y Obviously, the invention is susceptible of embodiment in lforms other than that which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

and we-therefore consideras our own all such modifications and adaptations thereof as fairly fall within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim 1. A glove having a body formed with a thumb and finger portions, said thumb having spaced openings in the back of a cover thereof adjacent to the inner side of the thumb and a plurality of said fingers having spaced openings in the" back portions of the covers and at opposite sides of the longitudinal median lines thereof, and a flexible connecting member threaded through said openings in said fingers yof the glove and in the thumb for adjustably connecting said fingers of the glove to one another and to said thumb.

2. A glove comprising a body having a thumbk and finger portions, said thumb having a pair of openings in the cover portion 'thereof at the back and inner side of the thumb said openings being spaced longitudinally of the thumb and the upper of said openings being located adjacent to the extremity of the thumb, a pair of transversely aligned openings in the cover of each of the first, second and third fingers of the glove at the back of the glove ad] acent to the extremity of that finger, a second pair of transversely aligned openings in the cover of each ofthe first and second fingers of the glove below the first named pair of transversely aligned openings in the back of the same finger, and a lace threaded through the first named opening in the third, second and first fingers and the upper opening of the thumb in turn and then passed outwardly from the inner side of the cover of the thumb through the lower opening in the cover of the thumb andthreaded through the second named opening in the first and second' fingers of the glove, said lace havingstop means at the ends thereof for preventing withdrawal of said ends of the lace through the .openings in the second and third fingers of the glove, respectively, said openings in the fingers and in the thumb of the glove having eyelets mounted therein.

' yPHILIP KENNEDY. BERT KENNEDY. 

